Borderlands 2 Russian Edition is Region-Locked

[surg3n]

So what the hell does 'Notably inferior' actually mean?

The writer doesn't go into any detail about why the Russian version would be inferior to everyone elses. Is the Russian version bugged?, worse graphics?, no sound?, ironic?, WTF?!

This article, is notably inferior in the field of actual facts, but then this post is notably inferior compared to the other posts, so I'm off to have a notably inferior cup of coffee and see if I can't wrap my head around it. Notably inferior? - well fucking NOTE the inferior aspects. Region locking is not a degredation of product.

If you would pay more attention, you would notice that article actually explains, why it is inferior version
But let me summarize it for the ones with short attention span
1.Game is locked in russian language (and if you've never heard/read russian localization you're one lucky man/woman)
2.You can play multiplayer only with other players who have same game version as you (not with all other Borderlands2 players)
and these 2 points makes localized version of Borderlands2 inferior

Yes I get that - Russian version can only play with Russian versions. That's not a case of the game being notably inferior is it? - It's not like Russia is somehow getting a degraded product, it's more that it's limited... Limits which could be addressed in future.
If I have 2 iPads, and one is Wifi, and one is 3G - is the Wifi one notably inferior?
Know what I mean? - I think it's a bad choice of words is all.

 

[Albino Boo]

you don't give us what we want we will take it anyway through other means. eff you 2K.

Thats precisely the reason why the Russian version is region locked is because of thieves like you.

 

[Arina Love]

you don't give us what we want we will take it anyway through other means. eff you 2K.

Thats precisely the reason why the Russian version is region locked is because of thieves like you.

Nope, majority of people will not pirate if they receive quality service, people will pirate because they get fucked with.
and where in my post i wrote that i will pirate this game. learn to read honey.

 

[blackrave]

Yes I get that - Russian version can only play with Russian versions. That's not a case of the game being notably inferior is it? - It's not like Russia is somehow getting a degraded product, it's more that it's limited... Limits which could be addressed in future.
If I have 2 iPads, and one is Wifi, and one is 3G - is the Wifi one notably inferior?
Know what I mean? - I think it's a bad choice of words is all.

No, because multiplayer is integral part of Borderlands2
My brother lives in Norway, so if I ever wanted to play Borderlands2 with him, I couldn't
That's makes it inferior
Also the horrors of russian translation also make this game inferior (I don't think you have any slightest idea of how bad localizations usually are)
While you call it limitation, it actually makes product inferior, because localized version is worse than international one.

 

[Kargathia]

Also, I'd really like to see what massive moron decided that non-russian countries should only have access to the russian-only version of the game...

I would assume management looked at a small-scale map of Eastern Europe and thought "eh, that's all former Soviet Russia anyway, it'll be fine".

Yes I get that - Russian version can only play with Russian versions. That's not a case of the game being notably inferior is it? - It's not like Russia is somehow getting a degraded product, it's more that it's limited... Limits which could be addressed in future.
If I have 2 iPads, and one is Wifi, and one is 3G - is the Wifi one notably inferior?
Know what I mean? - I think it's a bad choice of words is all.

I would describe a badly localised copy as "hugely inferior", actually. Bad translations are a thing of horror, while good translations are merely annoying as hell. Personally I probably wouldn't even play it if my only choice was a localised Dutch version - and that's before realising that for Eastern European countries it's not even their own language.

And that's not even mentioning the second aspect: restricted multiplayer. Russians have friends too, you know. Some of them even online, and in other countries. Just like, well, every single one of us.

 

[Woot835]

They REALLY slipped up on this. Hopefully my boxed copy will not get locked with the Russian language.

This just gives me reasons NOT to learn russian in my school. This is the game I promissed not to pirate, and I will uphold that promise. Modders better find a way past this.

 

[Mister K]

So, only digital steam PC version are affected, or console ones too?

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

That's...really hopeless, I feel for the Russians. Having seen first hand what region locking can do to a game (Armored Core V), I think it's a practice that belongs where other things you don't like belong, and can see no reason apart from profit and possibly lag to do it.

 

[m19]

Well as a native Russian speaker I can tell you it's not even an issue of whether I understand the language or not. Since I know English I want to play the original not a translation. DVDs have original language options, games should have too.

 

[Albino Boo]

you don't give us what we want we will take it anyway through other means. eff you 2K.

Thats precisely the reason why the Russian version is region locked is because of thieves like you.

Nope, majority of people will not pirate if they receive quality service, people will pirate because they get fucked with.
and where in my post i wrote that i will pirate this game. learn to read honey.

Of course all bank robbers are poeple who didn't get an overdraft and all burglars are people complaining about the noise. If you are not happy with customer service you don't get to steal from a bank or shop, why its ok to steal a game? If you don't like don't buy it, anything else means your just a plain old simple thief.

 

[thespyisdead]

Ahem... having been born in a Russian speaking part of Ukraine that half of the Ukrainian population won't have any problems understanding the game(for the most part, as the Russian that was spoken there, was a mix of the two languages), and i can bet that the same goes for any other part of the countries that are in close proximity to Russia(i hear Estonia have a nice amount of Russian speakers), so that should not be a problem, for the most part, in single player...


What i see as the problem here is the fact that MP is not global! i'd be pissed too if i could not play with a friend, who is half way around the world!

 

[Evil Smurf]

I can see Piracy going really high for that game

 

[Coldie]

Yes I get that - Russian version can only play with Russian versions. That's not a case of the game being notably inferior is it? - It's not like Russia is somehow getting a degraded product, it's more that it's limited... Limits which could be addressed in future.
If I have 2 iPads, and one is Wifi, and one is 3G - is the Wifi one notably inferior?
Know what I mean? - I think it's a bad choice of words is all.

Multiplayer is not the only problem with having a separate version.

You will also require your own versions of patches and DLC, which are not produced by Gearbox (they didn't even know the russian version even existed until recently), so they will likely be published with a delay, if ever.

Sometimes, the delay is fairly significant. For instance, the russian-version-compatible Lonesome Road DLC for Fallout New Vegas was released only recently, with the release of Ultimate Edition. All the other DLCs were also completely unavailable for purchase for significant amount of time. Duke Nukem Forever DLC is still not available. Not that anyone cares, really, but it's still not an option - and it was published by 2K, too.

 

[MetalMagpie]

Maybe Mr. Carter would clarify why the "Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia" players are upset. Were they lock them into the Russian region?

It turns that anyone with a Russian IP address who buys the game from Steam is given, unsurprisingly, a Russian version of the game. The thing is, the Russian version of the game is notably inferior to those of other regions, and users in the aforementioned Commonwealth countries are often assigned Russian IP addresses.

OT: Sounds like a bit of behind-the-scenes-shenanigans went on. Releasing a software product to multiple countries can be a tale of sadness and woe (based on my experience anyway). Whatever the complication was with Russia, this doesn't sound like an especially good way of dealing with it. Hopefully it'll get sorted out a little bit better once the release madness is done.

 

[Chinchama]

At least they immediately offered refunds and have already started working on a fix instead of stumbling over their own feet in deciding how to resolve a situation. I commend them for their speedy response and willingness to offer a refund so quickly while finding a fix instead of saying ohhh wellllllll sucks for them

 

[snekadid]

I've played nearly every online FPS since quake1. If it was my choice I'd lock every gamer from that region to their own turf too. You ever gone to PBbans and checked where all the worlds cheaters are coming from?

I wish they would region lock Brazil and Korea too, so many freaking trolls. The rest of the world can play well together and hell, the Japanese are some of the most cooperative and helpful players I've ever played with but Brazilians and Koreans intentionally try to ruin the game and I've had enough.

 

[Coldie]

It turns that anyone with a Russian IP address who buys the game from Steam is given, unsurprisingly, a Russian version of the game. The thing is, the Russian version of the game is notably inferior to those of other regions, and users in the aforementioned Commonwealth countries are often assigned Russian IP addresses.

OT: Sounds like a bit of behind-the-scenes-shenanigans went on. Releasing a software product to multiple countries can be a tale of sadness and woe (based on my experience anyway). Whatever the complication was with Russia, this doesn't sound like an especially good way of dealing with it. Hopefully it'll get sorted out a little bit better once the release madness is done.

It's not an pseudo-Russian IP issue. All those countries are included in the list of countries that receive the alternate restricted version, it's not just Russia or Russian IPs.

The full list of RU-version-restricted countries, straight from Steam:
RU AM AZ BY GE KZ KG MD TJ TM UZ UA LV LT EE

If your IP is in Russia or Latvia or Estonia or Ukraine or Uzbekistan, etc., you get the restricted version. In all those countries the official distributor is 1C, so they probably just said that 1C gets THIS version and no other, so all those countries are getting it.

 

[Krantos]

On the one hand, kind of a dick move.

On the other, they're offering refunds... That's unusual for publishers to do with something like this. Generally the response is "To bad, you should have read the EULA."

So, you know, props for them trying to make it (kind of) right.

 

[MetalMagpie]

It turns that anyone with a Russian IP address who buys the game from Steam is given, unsurprisingly, a Russian version of the game. The thing is, the Russian version of the game is notably inferior to those of other regions, and users in the aforementioned Commonwealth countries are often assigned Russian IP addresses.

OT: Sounds like a bit of behind-the-scenes-shenanigans went on. Releasing a software product to multiple countries can be a tale of sadness and woe (based on my experience anyway). Whatever the complication was with Russia, this doesn't sound like an especially good way of dealing with it. Hopefully it'll get sorted out a little bit better once the release madness is done.

It's not an pseudo-Russian IP issue. All those countries are included in the list of countries that receive the alternate restricted version, it's not just Russia or Russian IPs.

The full list of RU-version-restricted countries, straight from Steam:
RU AM AZ BY GE KZ KG MD TJ TM UZ UA LV LT EE

If your IP is in Russia or Latvia or Estonia or Ukraine or Uzbekistan, etc., you get the restricted version. In all those countries the official distributor is 1C, so they probably just said that 1C gets THIS version and no other, so all those countries are getting it.

Shenanigans indeed. I hadn't looked any further into the issue - just read the article.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

This sucks pretty bad. Region locking might be a necessary evil, but not when it gives you the wrong language and an inferior game. Not cool. Glad they're refunding.

im not sure how anybody at 2k could not see that coming, that is region lockig a game and forving people to play n a language they do not understand, this has to have been a mistake, nobody could honestly think this is a good idea.

Publishers don't give a flying shit about the products they sell, which is why they make mistakes like this. This is also why development companies strive for the 'indie' status.